{IRIS}
But awe did not solve the problem.
Two powerful vampires.
Arcane wielders.
And Caroline still bound, helpless, watching everything unfold with terror etched across her face.
The weight of the situation pressed down on me like a suffocating shroud.
How in the hell were we supposed to escape this alive?
My dagger felt small in my hand.
But it was still mine.
And as long as I could stand—bloodied, breathless, unshifted—I would not stop fighting for my life.
The Shadow Guard did not speak.
It never did.
Yet its presence pressed outward like a held breath, heavy with threat.
The darkness around it deepened, swallowing torchlight whole, until the chamber felt smaller—compressed by opposing forces that were seconds away from tearing it apart.
Morgana's eyes narrowed.
